Discovering America

Discovering America by Stephen Graham Jones

Right off the bat, we know this story is about an Indian man. And we are reminded of that fact in every paragraph when the narrator repeats "Because I'm Indian..." in whatever city he may be in at the time of his story. I think he brings this point up so often because it is brought up so often by the people he meets in these cities.

Stereotypes are splashed all throughout the story, with references to rain dances, lether bands, and animal spirits. Calm and collected, the narrator deals with these assumptions from the ignorant people across America. Each time he enters a new city, it takes less time to find someone who notices he is Indian and points it out.

The story ends where it began. Disregarding the location of the story, the likenesses of an ignorant person, blazing heat, and the observation of the writer's being Indian, prove the narrator's point. No matter where you travel, stereotypes will follow.

Different stereotypes come from different places, but most come from media. Whether it's a radio station, a popular television show, music, or pictures and paintings, we imagine a people a certain way, and choose to forget that those people change...just as we do. They are living things that mold to the environment and the society around them.


Dominant Representations of Native America:

In a Texas home where the father, Texas born and raise, clenches the tv remote and rarely lets go, the family of all girls tends to watch a lot of "old westerns."

When not interrupted by The Andy Griffith Show, a long line of episodes are viewed of The Rifleman, Bonanza, John Wayne classics. It's all about the west being tumbleweed and high noon and bar fights and horse chases, and yes, Indians.

I am a girl, so naturally, playing cowboys and indians didn't really suit my style. Bu in a time where Disney movies ruled, don't think for one second that I didn't want to be Pocahontas.

Just as we get ideas of Native America from movies and old traditions, Lucy Rabbit, in Truth & Bright Water, conjured her ideas about being "white" from the internet, tv, radio. Shakespeare is traditional. Elvis and Marilyn were in movies. And I'm sure if she watched some more tv, Lucy would find that Texans ride horses, chew tobacco, and say "yall" every other word.